Going Out
by lightingpaperlanterns
Summary: A collection of stories that centre around special events. Latest; Father's Day.
1. Castle's Birthday

**Hey everybody, it's me again! Ashley or Gabielle, or whatever it is you want to call me! (Yes, I've recently revealed my real name. It's Ashley... and it was kind of awkward for me when I mentioned Ashley (Alexis' boyfriend) in this fic...)**

**Anyway, I thought that today, in commemoration of Nathan Fillion's birthday, I'd write a short one-shot about Castle's birthday. Slightly AU, in the fact that Castle and Beckett are already dating, but nobody else knows about it... Uhm, it's set whenever you want after 3x10, I guess. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and enjoy the rest of your day! **

**-Ashley**

**PS: I think the ending is too cheesy. Thoughts?**

**

* * *

**

Detective Kate Beckett sat at her desk with her head perched lazily on her right hand. She was supposed to be doing paperwork, but she was having a hard time trying to decide what to get her boyfriend – and it felt so weird for her to call him that – for his birthday, and it was eating away at her. She did not want to screw this one up.

"Yo, Beckett," Espostio called out across the bullpen. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded, jumping up and getting back to work, trying to press on even though she couldn't concentrate.

Ryan walked in and sat down at his desk. "Esposito, you get anything for Castle for his birthday?"

"Nah, man, the guys already got a bar. What can we get him that'll be better than that?"

"Everything does pale in comparison. And when you think about it, anything we get him, he's probably already got. Damn it, I hate being friends with rich people. Beckett, have you gotten him anything?"

"No," she scoffed, scribbling her pen mindlessly on a brainstorm, not even flinching when her phone rang.

"Detective Beckett," she answered. "Oh, hi. What's up?"

Ryan, who was curious as to who Beckett was having a very cryptic conversation with, picked up the extension that was usually used for tracing and listened in.

"So, I was wondering if there was any way you'd be able to keep Richard away from the loft while we get ready for it, and then maybe you could bring him around at about seven? Everything should be ready then, right Alexis?"

"Sure, Martha, I'll see what I can do. I'll see you at seven?"

"See you at seven," Martha beamed, and Beckett hung up, glaring at Ryan.

"Surprise party for Castle?" he asked. "Are we invited?"

"That may have been a very private conversation," she snapped.

"But it wasn't, it was Martha."

"Who says I can't have a private conversation with Martha?" she asked.

"Well, I was just - are we invited?"

"Of course we are," Esposito said. "Didn't you get Beckett's email yesterday? We have to be there at 5.30 to help with the setup."

"Good thing we don't have a case," Ryan grinned.

"Yet," Beckett said. "We don't have a case yet."

At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and Castle exited, holding two cups of coffee.

"Morning, Castle," Ryan said, waving.

"Can I speak with you, please?" Beckett asked, getting up from her seat and heading towards the break room, Castle not far behind. She sat down at the table, her back facing the door so that Esposito and Ryan wouldn't be able to lip-read to find out what she was talking about, because they would no doubt be standing at the door.

"What's up?" Castle asked her as he handed her her coffee.

"You haven't told anybody about us, have you?" she asked him, taking a sip.

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "Why do you ask?"

That _smile_!, she thought as he grinned at her slyly. How she'd successfully managed not to jump him for the past two years was now a complete mystery to her. "I just thought you'd have told people about it, if not Ryan and Esposito then at least your mum and Alexis. But nobody's made any quips about it, so I was just... wondering."

"You're cute when you do that."

"Do what?"

"That thing you do where you ramble with absolutely no point and then you just falter off to one word."

"There was a point!" she defended. "So you really haven't told anybody?"

"No," he said. "Why, have you?"

"Castle, if I'd told Lanie we were dating, I'd probably have died from not being able to breathe," she said to him, knowing exactly who he'd meant when he asked.

"Fair point," he said. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

_Damn_, Beckett thought. She hadn't thought of what to do to keep him occupied for the day. And she wasn't going to let him know that she knew it was his birthday, because that would probably ruin the surprise for tonight. "Uh, well, the boys and I were just going to do paperwork, if you'd like to join us. And then we'll all be ready if a body drops."

"Sounds like a plan," he grinned.

* * *

"Can you believe it?" Esposito asked when he and Ryan got up to leave at 5.30. "Not a single body drop all day!"

"I know, it's amazing," Castle said. "You guys wanna do something tonight? Drinks on me at The Old Haunt?"

"Sorry, Castle," Ryan said. "Can't. I'm going out with Jenny."

"Taking Lanie out," Esposito shrugged. "Sorry man."

Castle closed his eyes and nodded. "Don't worry about it," he said, as they left. He wasn't going to let on to them, but he was way past disappointed. He thought they'd know his birthday by now, working together for the past two and a half years. Well, he hadn't mentioned it to them, but he still thought that Beckett would know, what with her being a closet fan of his for many years now.

"What's up, Castle? Something wrong?"

"No," he sighed. "I just thought I had some friends here. Obviously not."

"Because they won't go to The Old Haunt with you because they've already got plans?" she asked. "How's this? We go out for a drink after I finish up this paperwork, okay?"

"Okay," he said. "What about dinner?"

"Oh, no, I'm going out with my dad for dinner tonight," she said. "Don't want to spoil it."

He looked at her in exasperation. "How come I didn't know about these plans?" he asked.

"Look, Castle, I may be in a relationship with you, but you are not my datebook. You do not have to know every single one of my plans, 'kay?"

"Okay," he said, dejectedly.

"What's really wrong?" she asked him, glancing up from her papers. She figured that if she kept him talking, the longer it'd be until she was finished, and the less time she'd have to kill before taking Castle back to his loft. "I told you I'd have a drink with you."

"I know," he said. "But Alexis is going out with Ashley tonight, and mother's going out with some friends or something. And nobody wants to spend time with me."

"Why don't you work on your next Nikki Heat book?" she asked him, daring to shoot him a glance. "Isn't the new manuscript due soon, or something?"

"I don't want to work on it tonight," he shrugged. "I want to spend time with... somebody. Anybody!"

"So, you're choosing to stay here bothering me instead of just going home and finding something to do?"

"I like bothering you," he smiled, the same smile from before. "Besides, if I leave now, I probably won't even get a kiss."

"I dunno, Castle, I might be able to get one of the uniforms to kiss you, if you like."

"Funny."

"You think so?" she smirked.

* * *

An hour later, after she'd finally finished the paperwork, she woke Castle up from his snooze and led him out of the bullpen. Nobody else was there, so she took his hand and leaned into him, even though he was still a bit angry.

"I'm meeting my dad at half past seven," she said, looking at her watch. It was ten to seven, still ten minutes before she could take Castle back to his loft. "How about we just get some coffee and then go back to yours for a bit before I have to leave again?"

"Can't you just cancel dinner with your dad?" he whined, desperate to hang out with somebody now. "Or, I could go with you!"

"With my dad? Uh-huh, no way. Come on, let's have a drink at yours before I go. Then I'll come back after, okay?"

"Fine," he said, leaning his head on her shoulder as they stepped into the Spring air and hailed a cab. The two of them experienced an awkward silence on the way back to his apartment in Tribeca, and as they exited the taxi, Beckett pulled out her phone and sent a message to Alexis – _we'll be about two minutes. _

An immediate reply of 'OK, we're ready' arrived, and Beckett pocketed her phone.

"Who are you texting?" he asked suspiciously.

"None of your business," she said, following him into the lift. She smiled. "It's just my dad, don't worry."

When they arrived at his door, Castle unlocked it and walked backwards into the room. "What do you want?" he asked. "Vodka?"

"SURPRISE!" came the sound of fifty people jumping out from behind couches as he turned back to the room.

Beckett put her lips to his ear and whispered, "Happy Birthday, Richard." He didn't get a chance to reply before he was attacked by his family and friends coming up to wish him a happy birthday.

* * *

Hours later, after most of the party guests had had too much to drink, Castle found Beckett waiting for him in his study, her feet up on the desk.

"How did you know it was my birthday?" he asked, sitting down next to her feet.

"Castle, I thought you knew that I creep around the fan sites," she smiled.

"Really?"

"Well, it's how I found out when your birthday was, yes," she blushed. "But your mother called me the other day and reminded me, and we organised the party, if that's what you were wondering."

"Oh," he said, yawning.

"You really thought we'd forgotten your birthday, didn't you?" she asked, sitting up straighter. "Even Martha and Alexis?"

"Well, you know, Alexis has her boyfriend, mother's busy with the details for her acting school... you three had paperwork. I can't believe that we didn't get a single body drop all day."

"Yeah, New York homicide rate seemed to be on your side today... So, uh, I feel really bad, Castle, but I couldn't find anything for your birthday that I thought you'd like. And I know that's a really bad thing to do when you're in a relationship with someone, but everything I saw you either already had or you'd think was stupid, or -"

He cut her off by kissing her gently on the mouth. "You're doing it again," he told her. "That thing where you ramble."

"You're not angry?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I'm just glad that you remembered."


	2. Beckett's Birthday

**So, I started writing this second chapter in my document manager... and then Safari decided to crack a sad and I lost it all. But still, here I am, in the document manager, rewriting it. I actually never learn anything. (Now that I've finished writing, maybe that was a blessing in disguise. I like this one a whole lot better.)**

**I promised myself when I started that this would be a one-shot. But, thinking about it, I did a chapter for Nathan's birthday, so I kind of _have _to do one for Stana's birthday. So, I present to you, Beckett's birthday!**

**(I'm sorry it's a little bit late. I've had some things going on. Life doesn't stop for you to write a chapter, unfortunately.)**

**-Ashley**

* * *

"You're doing it again," Beckett informed him, stretching her arms out as she woke up.

"Doing what?" Castle asked, knowing exactly what it was that he was doing, and wondering how on Earth she'd known it, because her eyes were still closed and she was facing the opposite direction.

"Watching me sleep," she smiled, liking it. However, she didn't want him to know this, so she added, "it's creepy."

"You're cute when you sleep," he pouted as she got out of bed and walked over to him. "Good morning," he added, kissing her lightly.

"Morning, Rick," she smiled, sniffing. "Did you make breakfast?"

"Pancakes," he shrugged. "And before you ask, it's completely innocent. Look at them before you judge, please?"

"Fine," she sighed, walking out to the kitchen. When she got to where he'd laid breakfast out for her, she grinned. There were three bread and butter plates, each with one pancake on them. From left to right, they read 'Happy', 'Birthday' and 'Kate!'. Her usual morning coffee was steaming in a cup above the plates, and there was a small present wrapped up next to it.

"Happy birthday, Kate," he said, hugging her from behind. "Eat up."

She smiled giddily at him and sat down, picking up her fork. Then she hesitated.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's stupid," she said, shaking her head.

"You're talking to me, here," he pointed out.

"I don't want to ruin them," she blushed. "There, are you happy?"

"They're just pancakes," he said, slightly amused.

As she took her first bite, Castle's phone rang. "Castle," he answered, grinning at Beckett. "Oh, hello mother. What's up?"

Beckett stayed as quiet as she could. The two of them still hadn't told anybody about their relationship, but she was certain that most of their friends had figured it out. Esposito, for one, hadn't missed the cheeky glances between the two of them, and although he hadn't said anything, Beckett was sure she'd seen the cogs turning in his mind. Thankfully, though, he hadn't mentioned anything to Lanie, which she was only sure about because Lanie hadn't killed her yet. And she was positive that Martha and Alexis had figured it out when Castle had been spending less time at his apartment and more time at hers. Ryan, however, she was sure was still oblivious.

"Okay, I'll be there in about fifteen minutes," Castle finally said, and hung up the phone. "Hey, I've gotta go," he said apologetically. "I'll see you at the precinct later on."

"What makes you think I'm going in today?" she asked.

"In the two and a half years that I've known you, you've never missed work for your birthday," he said. "Or, anything, for that matter. Enjoy your pancakes," he added. As he leaned down to give her a peck on the lips, he picked up the small present he'd gotten her, which had remained untouched, and slipped it into his pocket. He'd give it back to her later, but he really wanted to be able to see her face when she opened it.

* * *

When Beckett arrived at the crime scene half an hour later, she was surprised to find that Castle was already there. She didn't say anything, however, and focused on the fact that the three boys had stopped speaking as soon as Esposito had spotted her across the room.

"Were you three talking about me?" she asked them when she was close enough.

"No," Castle answered, but all three of them knew that she knew they were.

"Your victim is male, caucasian and mid-30's," Lanie interrupted before she could ask them any more questions. "COD is a gunshot wound to the side of the head, but blood splatter indicates he was already on the floor and unable to fight."

"So the killer incapacitated the victim before shooting him?" Castle asked. "Why?"

"So that he wouldn't scream for help," Esposito answered. "We asked around and nobody heard a gunshot last night."

"So, how did anybody know he was dead?" Beckett inquired.

"His daughter came home this morning after spending the night at her boyfriend's house," Ryan said. Castle and Beckett glanced at each other briefly and then turned back to the victim.

"Is there any evidence as to how he was incapacitated?" Castle asked, turning back to Lanie.

"Para-mortem bruising on the chest and the back of the head indicate that he was forced backwards with something heavy hitting his chest, and then he stumbled backwards and hit his head on the edge of the China cabinet. There's blood there, in case you were wondering," she added before Castle could ask. "He would have died within a few minutes anyway, but I guess the killer wanted to do it himself."

"That means we're looking for someone who knew him, probably hated him," Beckett summarised, standing up. "Ryan and Esposito, can you take a statement from his daughter. Castle, we're going to track down the mother of the daughter."

"Sure thing, boss," Esposito said as her and Castle headed off.

"Do you think she knows we've been here for an hour and we've already done that?" Ryan asked him.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Come on. We've got a birthday party to throw."

* * *

"The break room?" Alexis asked as she arrived, putting the present she'd gotten for her dad's girlfriend on the table along with everybody else's. "Are you sure she won't suspect anything."

"Nah," Ryan shrugged. "Her and Castle have been chasing down leads all morning. They've barely been here."

"Martha, you look stunning today," Esposito said, shaking her hand.

"It's all in the accessories, Detective," she grinned.

"Okay everybody, they're going to be back in a minute, so I'm going to shut the door and you all need to be quiet as... inanimate objects!" Esposito announced. Originally, his analogy had ended in 'dead people', but as some of the people in the room weren't as seasoned with homicide cases as he was, he'd altered it slightly. Shaking his head at himself and ignoring Ryan's laughter, he followed his partner out of the room and shut the door behind him. They just got back to the preliminary murder board when the elevator door pinged, and Castle and Beckett started towards them.

"Don't lie to me, Castle!" she was saying, yelling at him in hushed tones. "It was right there this morning, and you then you moved it."

"That's ridiculous!" he replied.

"Need a moment?" Esposito asked them, raising his eyebrows.

"No," Beckett answered, while at the same time Castle replied, "yes."

"No, Castle, we don't."

"Really? Because I could do with some coffee... You want some?"

_Damn_, she thought. She couldn't say no to that because she _always _wanted coffee. "Fine," she said, getting up from her seat. "I'll have some coffee. But don't think this conversation is over," she added, facing him as she opened the door to the break room behind her.

"SURPRISE!" came the sounds of at least thirty people from inside, and she jumped, her hand instinctively moving towards the spot on her belt where her gun was holstered.

"Payback," Castle whispered in her ear as he passed. He looked back at her when he got to the table to find her grinning at him.

"I'm going to kill you," she said.

* * *

Hours later, after everybody else had left for the night, Castle and Beckett were still sitting at her desk looking over the case file. Granted, with the party, they hadn't gotten much work done today, but they still had quite a few good leads to chase in the morning.

"You're lucky I didn't make us a reservation anywhere," he said, yawning. "Can we go now, please? We've got nothing else to do here."

"Alright, fine," she said, putting the case file down and leaning over to get her bag. "Let's - Is this?"

"Yes," he said, as she picked up the small wrapped present before her. In the few seconds when she hadn't been paying attention, he'd popped it right in front of her. "You were right, I did take it back. But I didn't want you to open it without me there, because I know this present will mean a lot to you."

"If this is a ring, Castle -"

"Don't be ridiculous!" he said, and then realised what had happened. "I mean, don't you think it's far too early in our relationship for me to be proposing to you? Please, at least give it another three months. Just... open it."

Confused, she tore the paper away to find a small jewellery box. "Castle."

"I told you, it's not a ring."

Anxiously, she opened the box to find a gold chain there. "What's this for?" she asked. Not that she wasn't happy that he'd gotten it for her; she was just a bit confused as to why.

"It's for your mother's ring," he said. "You were devastated the other day; I thought you might like a new one."

She remembered clearly what had happened. The two of them were having Chinese for dinner, and she'd been absentmindedly playing with the chain. She'd put too much pressure on it and the links had broken, sending the ring flying across the room. Castle, as the only one who knew the story behind the ring, has taken the chain and promised to get it fixed as soon as he could.

She should have known that he'd just buy her a new one.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him. "I love it."

"I'm glad," he smiled, standing up and offering his arm. "Come on, how about we hit up Remy's for a burger? I'm starved."


	3. Mothers Day

**For some reason, you guys wanted more of this story. So, I hereby present to you; Mothers Day!  
I thought it might be a good idea. However, I'm not entirely happy with the bit towards the end... I don't think it's entirely IC. And last time I wrote something OOC, even though it was completely logical to me, I was yelled at, so here's your warning. It may be a tad OOC towards the end. **

**That's your final warning. I hope you enjoy the story :)  
****-Ashley xx **

He should have known it would never have worked out. No matter how many times he'd tried it in his adult life, he could never, ever get that one thing right. How hard could it really be? All he had to do was remember one little thing, and they wouldn't even have this problem.

How on earth could he forget that his mother didn't like bacon?

Richard and Alexis had decided to go for the 'breakfast in bed' on Mother's day this year, and while Alexis had been cooking the sausages, Rick had whacked a few pieces of bacon in the pan. He blamed his serious lack of judgement on the fact that he'd been at the precinct until 1 the night before, finishing off the last of the paperwork, and it was currently seven thirty-three.

Martha had been rather grumpy at the instance of bacon on her plate and sent it away.

He was in the process of transferring it to another plate (she didn't even want the remnants of it on her dish) when his phone rang. "Castle," he answered. After he'd written down the address of the crime scene, he told Alexis he'd be back soon.

"Oh, wait, can you give this to Detective Beckett for me, please?" she asked, handing him an envelope.

"What's this for?" he asked suspiciously.

"If you open it, Beckett will kill you," was all his daughter replied. He smiled at her and then left, stuffing the envelope into his coat on the way.

* * *

"You look upset," Beckett noted as he handed her a cup of coffee.

"I put bacon on the plate," he answered her unspoken question.

"Ah," she said knowingly. "Mother's day... I forgot. But, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Ryan and Esposito both took the day off. Just you and me today."

"Awesome."

After she gave him the rundown on the victim, provided by Lanie who wanted it done with as quickly as possible so that she could have Mothers Day lunch at her parent's house, they started knocking on doors.

Two hours later when they were back at the precinct, Beckett glanced at him. "Don't you have anything special planned for today?" she asked.

"Spending it with you," he smiled. Adorably.

"Careful," she said, narrowing her eyes but grinning at the same time. They _still_ hadn't told anybody about their relationship, but everybody knew what was going on. The two did know this, but by not telling anybody officially, it was still secret. "I'm serious. You're not taking your mum out to lunch or anything?"

"Well, we were going for the breakfast in bed approach. I already told you about the bacon... Meredith's in town, so her and Alexis are spending the day together... and I think Mother's catching up with some old friends. So, no, I'm not doing anything special for my mother."

"What did you do when you were a kid?"

"Well, most of the time I was at boarding school, so I'd just talk to her on the phone... if she even had time for that... What did you used to do?"

Beckett grinned, laughing at the memories. "We used to go into the city and we went to a restaurant and pretend to be tourists. We went to a different restaurant every year."

"Tourists from where?"

"Eastern Europe," she shrugged. "She pulled off a killer Russian accent."

"So do you," he shrugged.

She laughed.

"You wanna go out for lunch?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"You heard me," he said. "I asked if you wanted to go out for lunch. We can go to a restaurant and pretend to be tourists, just like you did with your mother."

"Castle," she sighed.

"You know you want to," he smiled.

She couldn't not give in to him. He was so adorable with that smile, and she did have to admit to herself that she found the idea a good one. She would have given anything to be able to do that with her mother again, and if she couldn't do it with her mother, then why not do it with him, her boyfriend? And why did that still sound so weird to her?

She grinned at him and picked up her coat. "Where are we going to be from?"

* * *

"Moral of the story," he was saying as they arrived back at the precinct. "Don't try and pretend you're a tourist if people know who you are."

"Oh, come on, did you see the look on that waiter's face when he thought you were from Ukraine? That was priceless! I think the moral really is that if you're a cop, you really shouldn't pretend you're from somewhere else. I can't believe that one person recognised me!"

"You were in that magazine that one time," he shrugged.

She pushed him playfully as they hopped out of the elevator.

"To be honest, they probably only know who you are because you were with me."

"Famous by association," she said, rolling her eyes. "Because everybody wants that."

"Some people do," he said. "Look, if you don't want that, you don't have to have it. I managed to keep Alexis away from that. I can keep you away from it too."

"I'm a big girl," she winked. "Let's just hope that next time we go undercover more people don't recognise you."

"That could always be a problem," he agreed. "Oh, hey, speaking of Alexis, she asked me to give this to you." He held out the envelope that he'd had in his pocket.

"Uh, thanks," she said, taking it. She turned it over in her fingers a couple of times before letting it rest on the desk."

"Aren't you going to open it?" Castle asked.

"No," she answered. "Not now. I'll open it when I get home."

"I'll come with you," he grinned.

"Maybe I should ammend that statement. I'm not going to open it until I am alone."

"You are no fun," he said.

* * *

Three hours later, after they'd exhausted the leads for the day and couldn't do anything more until Ryan and Esposito returned the next day, Beckett had said goodbye to Castle and made her way to the cemetery.

Every mothers day for the past twelve years, Kate Beckett had come to visit her mother and tell her about everything that had happened since her last visit, which would normally be Christmas. This year, it had been the last time that Johanna Beckett's case showed up in her life.

"Hey mum," Kate said, sitting cross-legged by the headstone. "Hope you're doing well... Uh, God, you'd think this'd get easier, but it really hasn't. And there's so much to tell you. Ah, do you remember that guy? Rick? He used to annoy me so much and then... I don't even know. But I think... I think I can see him in my life for a very long time. We're dating now. And uh... I really think you would have liked him. I mean, he was your favourite author and everything, but I mean that you would have liked him as a person. He makes serious things fun. He's really loosened me up. I think that I'm starting to get better, but I still need closure.

"Sometimes, when I walk out of my room in the morning, I still expect to see you sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. You don't understand how much I need to find out who did this to you."

She was quiet for a moment as the wind blew around her and gathered up her hair. Making a decision, she pulled the envelope out of her pocket and turned it over in her fingers, before tearing it open.

Inside was a card and a photograph. The photo was one of her and Alexis from Castle's birthday party earlier in the year, their arms around each other. Castle had taken that photo, she remembered. She smiled at the memory.

Next she read the message in the card.

_Dear Detective Beckett,_

_ I just wanted to say thank you for being there for me. My mother isn't always around, which isn't always a bad thing, but sometimes I just need some motherly advice, and you never seem too adverse to giving it. And we both know that Gram isn't the best person to seek advice from. You've helped me out more times than you should have._

_ Also, don't think you and dad are fooling anybody. We've known for weeks now._

_ Love, Alexis._

_ PS: Happy Mothers Day._

Beckett smiled to herself as she read the card over again. Finally, she put the photo inside, put them both in her pocket, and placed a kiss on her mother's headstone. "Happy Mothers Day, mum," she whispered, before turning around and heading home.

The card found its way onto her bedside table, and the photo was placed in a frame next to it. Today was definitely one of the better Mothers Day's she'd had recently.

* * *

**Hmm. Tell me what you think?  
Also, I'm changing this story from 'Complete' to 'In Progress', just in case there's another special occasion. But updates will be very irregular if it's a Special Occasion-ny type story.  
-Ashley xx **


	4. Fathers Day

**Just before we start, a little bit of context/explanation.  
This takes place after the finale. But, we're going to assume that because Kate and Rick were dating, she listened to him about letting it go, Montgomery never died, and Beckett never got shot.  
And it has come to my attention that America celebrates Father's day in June! What trickery is this? Father's day is surely celebrated in September. At least in Australia. So, if you're wondering 'why on Earth is she putting up a Father's day special two and a half months late?', it's because, well... we celebrate Father's day on the first Sunday of September. So that would be today. **

* * *

The wake up came at five in the morning. Groaning, Castle reached over to his bedside table and glared at the name on the screen. He loved her, honestly, he did, but why couldn't she understand that five in the morning was just a little _too _early for him.

"Castle," he answered, yawning.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Beckett asked mischievously.

"You know you woke me up," he said. "What's up?"

"There's been a murder," she replied. "I think you'll appreciate this one."

* * *

Twenty-four minutes later, Castle stood with Beckett at the back of a giant church hall, each clutching a steaming cup of coffee and talking with uniforms about various pieces of evidence.. Ryan and Esposito, who had also been dragged out of bed at this ungodly hour, were talking to the patrons of the church, who had arrived about five hours too early for mass to have their church council meeting and had instead found the dead body of the chaplain.

"Thanks, Aaronson," Beckett sighed, pushing her hair back. "Can you guys take inventory? Make sure you get everything – I want to know about every missing candle holders, candlesticks, anything, got it?"

"Of course, detective," he nodded, heading off.

"Candle holders?" Rick asked. "What, you think Professor Plum did it?"

"If there's a Professor Plum in the usual congregation, I'll give you a chocolate," she promised. "No, I don't think Professor Plum did it. But candle holders are very useful weapons. You can stab people with them, hit people with them… and, you know, churches are full of candles, Castle. Let's go talk to Lanie."

"You know, there are better things I could be doing right now," Lanie told them as she looked at a bruise on the victim's neck.

"Like sleeping," Castle agreed, looking pointedly at Kate.

"Oh, shut up, you," she said, rolling her eyes before turning her attention back Lanie. "What do you got for me?"

"Stabbed in the stomach," Lanie smiled grimly. "Not before he was beaten though. Unable to determine whether the perp used their hands or a weapon, but we can probably find out later when we forensics does particulates."

"Do you know what he was stabbed with?"

"Something skinny," Lanie said. "Skewer shaped."

"Sort of like the point of a candle stick holder?" Kate asked, looking sideways at Castle.

"That could do it," she agreed.

"Stop being right," he said to her. "It's too early in the morning."

Lanie stood up and looked between the two of them. "You know, I don't understand why writer here isn't quivering with excitement at the irony of this."

"It's half past five on a Sunday, Lanie. I'm not entirely coherent yet."

"Seriously?" Kate asked. "You haven't got it at all?"

"Alright, what is so terribly ironic about this case?" he asked.

"Come on, Castle, a Catholic priest has been killed. A Father, murdered on father's day?"

"Oh," Castle grinned, excitement seeping in to his features. "This is so cool!"

* * *

They'd just reached the street outside the church when Beckett's phone rang. She made a face at the screen. "Alexis," she said, holding the phone to her ear. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know where dad is? He's not home and he's not answering his phone. Is he with you?"

"What's wrong?" Castle asked, holding his hand out for the phone. "Tell meee!"

"Yeah, he's here," she said. "Castle, where's your phone?"

He checked his pockets and spun around, almost as though he would find it hanging on a string behind him.

"I've left it at home."

"He's left his phone at home, Alexis," Kate said. "Why do you ask?"

"Gram and I made him breakfast in bed, and then when we opened the door, he wasn't there!"

"Here, he wants to talk to you!"

She handed the phone to him and walked a little way down the street, Castle lagging a little way behind. She'd forgotten it was father's day until Montgomery had mentioned it to her the night before, asking if she'd made any plans. She hadn't, and she hadn't thought twice about calling Castle to the scene on his day of the year.

"Everything okay?" she asked him as he jogged to catch up and handed the phone back.

"Yeah. They were a little disappointed I wasn't there. I completely forgot it was father's day, so I didn't leave a note."

"You have any plans?"

"Not really," he shrugged. "Well, I didn't. Now we're solving a murder."

"You weren't going to go out for dinner?"

"We don't really do much for father's day," he replied. "What about you? Any plans?"

Find out who killed Father Charles," she shrugged. "I might invite my dad out for dinner."

"Father Charles?" Castle asked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"That's a really cool name. So what do we do now?"

"We have to interview the congregation," she sighed. "But we have to wait until they actually get here. Ryan's getting a list of the usual attendees."

"So… breakfast?" he asked.

"Sure," she smiled.

* * *

Finding the killer of the chaplain wasn't too hard. As soon as they'd announced that they'd be interviewing the members of the church, a gangly kid with really bad acne that was sitting in the front row started sweating and looking around nervously, until finally he stood up, his hands above his head and confessed that he'd killed the priest because he didn't want to go to Sunday School that day.

With no other cases that day, the two of them went back to the loft and had the breakfast that Martha and Alexis had prepared earlier for lunch. Kate called her father and invited him over for father's day dinner with the Castle's, before they went down to the shops to buy ingredients for a roast.

* * *

"Happy father's day, dad," Kate said, waving as the door of the loft closed behind him. Alexis had gone up to her room an hour ago, and Martha had retreated now that there were no guests, so it was just the two of them, Kate and Rick, standing in the hallway.

"Thanks for dinner," Kate said sleepily into his shoulder as he steered them towards his bedroom. "It was great."

"I think we've established by now that everything I cook is fantastic."

She rolled her eyes, remembering with disgust the time he'd decided to try and make her eat a steak wrapped in a crepe with salad. "Yes, you keep telling yourself that," she replied.

"Thanks for inviting your dad over," he said. "A family father's day dinner," he grinned. "It made me feel a bit better. You know, I never really celebrated father's day before Alexis was born."

"I would understand the appropriateness of that," she replied.

"Just like how you don't celebrate mother's day anymore?"

"Excuse me," she said, her mouth open in mock anger. "I do celebrate mother's day. I go visit my mother at the cemetery. Just because I didn't invite you over to have dinner with her…"

"Sorry," he replied, sitting down on the bed. He grabbed her hand and held her in front of him. "You're beautiful."

"I have to tell you something," she replied.

"I'll take that as a thank you," he shrugged.

"No, I have to tell you something important, and I really, really don't want you to be angry."

"Why would I be angry?" he asked, rubbing a small circle on her hand.

She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes. _Here goes nothing_, she thought. "Rick… I'm pregnant."

His eyes widened as the words turned over in his head. The meaning didn't take long to sink in, but the surprise of the words rendered him speechless.

Kate, taking this the wrong way, started rambling. "I've known for a few days now, and I've been wanting to tell you and Lanie said I should wait for the right time, but there hasn't been a good time and –"

"Shh," he said, placing a finger to her lips. "You know what?"

"What?" she said, looking down.

He forced her chin upwards and locked eyes with her. "Best father's day present ever," he smiled.

* * *

**Uh yeah...  
Uhm... what did you think? **


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